


Declarations of Love

by HuiLian



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, mind jason's cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 19:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12711099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: Bruce could not say his love to his children. Thankfully, Cass was there to interpret.





	Declarations of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea from @oh-mother-of-darkness headcanon. The original post is here http://oh-mother-of-darkness.tumblr.com/post/166944226136/reasons-to-be-happy-today-one-night-after-a . It’s a bit different from the original hc, so i hope you don’t mind, hehehe. 
> 
> (I should be studying biology. I wrote this instead...)

 

It was the case. That was what Dick said to himself to excuse Bruce's behavior. Arkham inmates all broke out, _again_ , so the tension was high. They were all exhausted, stressed out, and just generally ready to crash.

But in reality, Bruce has been doing that for years, now.

It was not always like that. In Dick's first years as Robin, Bruce was not like this. Sure, he'd snap at him from time to time, but it was never unwarranted. He had almost always done something stupid enough to warrant the lecture. And Bruce always comes to him a few hours later, saying things like how much Dick meant to him and how he couldn't handle losing Dick. Not in so many words, of course, where's the fun in that, but Dick got the gist. Moreover, Bruce will sometimes, _sometimes_ , if he was good enough that day, smile at him and patted him on the shoulders. That always meant 'I'm proud of you, chum'.

The younger ones never saw that Bruce. Tim, Steph, Cass, Damian, and Duke only ever saw a Bruce that was already broken from losing Jason. And Jason? Well, Jason was special. He knew Bruce can be kind and loving, but those memories were clouded by Bruce's actions after he returned.

In his heart, Jason will always have that part of him that was a Gotham street kid. That part will never be able to trust anyone who had hurt him, because in the streets of Gotham, trusting someone who had turned on you once will result in your death. And Bruce had hurt Jason countless of times.

Bruce kept snapping at everyone. At Dick for not watching his back, at Jason for using excessive force, at Tim for crashing in the middle of the case, at Steph for not being fast enough, at Cass for not being quick enough to work the evidence, at Damian for running off alone, and at Duke for not obeying his orders in the field. None of it was warranted.

So Dick was not surprised to see Jason and Steph grumbling under their breath. Nor was he surprised to see both Tim and Damian glaring daggers at Bruce's cowl. Duke was relatively new, and therefore hasn't had a trademark response to Bruce's sudden anger lapse. He would in a few more months, though.

The moment Bruce finished his lecture and went out the room, the shouting started. Honestly, Dick was surprised they could hold it that long.

"Enough with the excessive force, Jason. Stop shooting at criminals, Jason," Jason said in his worst Bruce imitation. Dick knew that Jason can do a more or less spot on impersonation of Bruce, so this was deliberate.

"You need to be fast enough, Stephanie! You're not good enough, Stephanie!" Steph said while making bat ears with her fingers. "Do as I say. Why? Because I'm Batman!"

"This lunatic need to be brought back unharmed, Jason," Jason continued. "Fuck it, they deserve what they got."

"Yeah, maybe tone it down a bit, Jay?" Tim said. "My bike's full of bullet holes and I just finished tuning it up. I'm going to have to do it again."

"Fuck you, Replacement."

"Nobody cares about your bike, Drake."

"Hey!" Tim retorted back.

"I mean, I get that he does this whole lecturing thing out of love for us and all, but he could stand to show it," Steph said before it can turn into an argument about Red Robin's bike.

"It _would_ be nice to get a positive feedback once in a while," Duke said from the side of the room. "I mean, I've been here almost three months and I've never heard him say something positive about any of us."

"Just three months? Try four years," Steph replied.

"Try six," Jason said.

"Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard him say 'I love you' to any of us?" Steph said.

Duke shook his head. Tim took a moment to think but eventually shook his head. Jason simply grimaced. "Like he would ever stoop so low."

"But he says that a lot," Cass said. Dick turned his head to see Cass better, and he could see that Cass was confused with the whole conversation. She had this frown that meant she knew something others don't, but can't find the words to express it.

"What? He never says that, Cass." Steph frowned.

"Yeah, Cass. He never actually says that to any of us," Tim added.

"No. He says that a lot."

Dick knew where this was going. Cass read body languages. She read Bruce's and considered it as valid as a spoken declaration. But that was not the case with the rest of them. Dick himself could only read the hidden love in Bruce's gestures by years of exposition to the man himself and the fact that he used to _say_ it more clearly.

"Not verbally, Cass, he doesn't," Dick interjected. If he didn't then this whole thing would go round and round, and it would be hours before the resulting argument would be finished. "As far as I can recall, he never says that verbally."

"Ha! Goldie's been here the longest and even he never heard Bruce said it," Jason said.

"No. He says it a lot."

"Cass, not verbally, okay?" Dick smiled at her. "It's late and we're all exhausted. So, let's just leave this for the night and go to sleep. We can argue this again in the morning when we're all rested."

Cass looked at him with a disbelieving expression, but eventually relented to put the issue down for the night. Dick was sure that it would come up again.

Well, that's a problem for another day. Right now he needed the rest.

***

Cass _knew_ that Bruce said he loved them lots of times. The others just didn't understand the language that Bruce used. So it's up to Cass to show them all the times Bruce said it.

Just you wait. By the time Cassandra finished, all of them were going to be fluent in Bruce's language of love.

***

Cass' first chance came with Damian. Cass had been spending more time at the Manor and accompanying various of her siblings to patrol just so she could show them when Bruce said his 'I love yous'. Apparently, that night was a Dynamic Duo night, and Robin was patrolling with Batman. It was the perfect situation for Bruce to say it. Cass was almost giddy with excitement.

She was right. Just before they went out, Batman pulled Robin close and adjusted his cape. His whole body screamed 'I love you'. The way his shoulders hunched up a fraction of a centimeter, the way Bruce didn't have eyes for anything else except for the cape he was adjusting, and the way he tilted his head. All of it was very miniscule, but Cass could read it loud and clear. Damian didn't seem to realize it though.

That just won't do. Cass walked towards Damian just after Bruce finished, and whispered to his ear, "There."

Damian looked up to her with a bewildered expression. Cass just smiled.

***

Next it was Tim and Dick. She was up in the rooftops with them, winding down after patrol when Batman came by. They were laughing and fooling around, play-fighting with each other. (Not sparing. Sparing is when you put all of your skills and _fight_ with the other person. This is play. This is safe.)

Cass watched as Tim got tackled to the floor by Dick, and then promptly got tickled. Dick was laughing, Tim was laughing, she was laughing. After they were both tired of laughing, Dick pulled Tim up to his feet and started striking ridiculous poses. As flexible as Dick was, he had a lot of it in his repertoire.

Then Tim followed suit. Between the two of them, they made Cass laugh again. She almost missed Bruce landing on the rooftop. Almost.

Both of them realized that Bruce was there too, it seemed, because they changed their poses from ridiculous to exaggerated. The kind of exaggerated that Batman could sometimes be.

Cass hid a smile when she realized that Bruce was rolling his eyes. There it was. His love was pouring out in spades to these two boys in front of him.

"What do you think, Red? Was it good enough for the Batman?" Dick asked with laughter hidden in his voice.

"Oh, I don't know, 'Wing. He is usually much more melodramatic than this. We could never hope to compare."

All of them heard the huff of Bruce's breath and the thud as he jumped from that rooftop to another. Cass approached Dick and Tim.

"There," she said.

Dick looked at her with a smile and a knowing glint in his eyes. Good. He knew already. Tim, on the other hand, looked skeptical. It didn't matter. Cass would convince him.

***

Steph's  chance came when she was using the Cave to train. She was doing drills and then sparing with the training program. Bruce was going through a case on the computer. Cass was reading a book that Jason recommended to her. It was quite good.

"Put that arm up a bit, Stephanie," Bruce said, not even looking to where Steph was. Steph huffed, but complied. She did much better in the training program afterwards.

After the program stopped and Steph was taking a break, Cass put down her book and approached Steph. "There," she whispered.

Steph snorted, but her eyes looked thoughtful. There was hope for her yet.

***

Duke, even though she didn't know him quite as well yet, seemed to be the one most in need of an encouragement. He was new here, and didn't know Bruce quite as well. So, Cass made sure to follow him around the Manor and the Cave.

Bruce was more closed off around Duke. He was unsure if he was permitted to love this child that had loving parents and happy family before this. He was unsure if he was permitted to give affection to this boy who had lost so much because of his failures. So he kept to himself around Duke, only interacting when absolutely necessary.

It eventually came, though. Duke was reviewing his toxin knowledge and quizzing himself about it when his stomach growled. He looked alarmed at that, as though he would be reprimanded because of it.

Bruce didn't say anything. Just grabbed a granola bar from his utility belt and handed it over to Duke. Duke was shocked at the gesture.

Cass smiled. She went over to Duke's workspace and poked him to get him out of his shock. He jerked his head to Cass and she said, "There."

***

Jason's turn came on patrol. Of course it would. He and Bruce never see each other outside of patrol, these days. Since it was only Jason whom Cass hasn't told yet, she followed Red Hood's patrol route for several days.

It took a lot of time and patience. Jason avoided Bruce, and Bruce avoided Jason. But in Gotham, you will encounter the Batman sooner or later, even if you're the Red Hood.

They were on a case. Drugs. Explosives. Children involved. The kind of case that Red Hood would always take. They were already at the end of the case, just a last fight to close down the operation.

Cass simply watched. The two of them had it handled. They did not need her. She was content to watch. _Then_ one of them got a little too close to Jason for Bruce's comfort.

The Batman went ballistic on them. By the end of that fight, there were none of the thugs that would be able to walk the next day.

"Thanks, but no thanks for the help. I had it handled."

Batman simply grunted. And got out of the scene hastily.

Cass dropped down from her hiding spot and tapped Jason on the waist. "There."

Jason cursed. "You couldn't have helped, Black Bat?"

"You had it handled," she said.

"I would much rather have you than the big bad bat."

"Can't you see? It was there."

"Huh? What was there?"

With Jason, you need to be blunt. Being subtle would only make him trust you less. "He loves you."

"Yeah, right."

"He does."

Jason picked up all the gear he had dropped during the fight. "Nice chatting with you, but I need to get going. See you around, Black Bat."

"He does, Hood. You'll see."

***

Cass was used to this. She was used to fighting, and she was used to winning the fight. So when Bruce did that to her just because she had incapacitated _three_ person, she was a little surprised.

It was not unwelcome, though.

She smiled at Bruce. By all means, it shouldn't be visible from under her cowl, but she knew Bruce can see it. Bruce returned the smile. (Not by actually smiling. He wouldn't be Bruce if he did. But Cass can read it, and that was all that matters.)

It was enough.

***

**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr (huilian.tumblr.com)


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